Piscotty agrees to $33.5 million, 6-year deal with Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals outfielder managed to get plunked by a baseball three times - in the elbow, the other elbow and finally the head - in roughly three minutes during the Cardinals' 2-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Piscotty reached base when Jake Arrieta hit him in the right elbow with a pitch, and he advanced to second on a wild pitch - but not before he was struck in the left elbow by a throw from Cubs catcher Willson Contreras. But the last blow was the worst, as Cubs second baseman Javier Baez clipped Piscotty on the earflap of his helmet with a throw to home plate after a misplayed grounder. As Piscotty slid into home the ball whacked him in the head.

Santana (1-0) gave up just two hits and two walks while striking out three over seven innings, aided by two diving catches of sinking line drives by center fielder Byron Buxton that highlighted a stellar afternoon of defense by the Twins.

A day after officially announcing their extension with Yadier Molina, it appears the St. Louis Cardinals have wrapped up a new deal with another player. Now they will spend a fifth night in St. Louis before flying to Wisconsin after Thursday's game.

"Yesterday was my mother's birthday, and I told her, 'I'm going to hit you a homer, '" Almora said. "I think we all did".

Piscotty, 26, was drafted by the Cardinals in the supplemental first round (36th player overall) of the 2012 First Year Player Draft out of Stanford University.

In the fourth inning against the Detroit Tigers, Ol' Diz was sent in to pinch run for Spud Davis, who had singled to right field batting for starting pitcher Dazzy Vance (yes, the Cardinals' staff had a Dizzy, a Dazzy and a Daffy that season).

He also won two games in the 2013 National League Championship Series, helping St. Louis get past the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games.

Three different Cubs, all with excellent arms, all hit Piscotty with throws in the inning. Jason Heyward started Opening Night in center, and Almora was the starter Tuesday. Almora's reaction was even better.

"I played over there for two years, and Joe does what Joe does", Fowler said.

St. Louis went 86-76 past year and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2010, but the additions of Fowler and reliever Brett Cecil ramped up the optimism for this season.

A day after St. Louis signed a legacy contract with one of its all-time greats, the Cardinals went back to work locking up their young nucleus of talent.